Vietnam moves to develop responsible fishery industry

Hanoi (VNA) – Considerable efforts have been made by the entire political
system, sectors and localities to fight illegal,
unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as required by the European Commission.

The European Commission (EC)’s "yellow card"
warning for IUU fishing on October 23, 2017 changed the perception of all sector
and local authorities, fishermen and enterprises on marine economic development
in line with international practices.

Vietnam
has achieved great strides in the work and all relevant recommendations of the
EC have been legalised through the adoption of the amended Law on Fisheries.

The law regulates quotas for the first time for the fishing of migratory fish species. It also prohibits illegal fishing
outside Vietnam's waters.

In
addition, for imported raw materials, enterprises must also comply with
requirements on food safety and hygiene control and complete documentation of
origin of imported raw materials.

Many documents have been
issued with the support of experts from the EU.

Acting Director General of Directorate of Fisheries Nguyen Ngoc Oai said the agency is directing
coastal localities to complete the installation of satellite-positioning devices for all offshore fishing ships
longer than 24 metres.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also signed a regulation
with the Ministry of Defence to control offshore fishing vessels, while coordinating
with international organisations in the fight against illegal fishing, Oai
noted.

To date, fishing vessels’ violation of waters of Pacific island nations have
almost ceased, Oai said, adding that the inspection of offshore fishing ships has
also been effective.

Statistics
from the Vietnam Association of Seafood
Exporters and Producers (VASEP) show 62 Vietnamese enterprises
nationwide have signed commitments to combat illegal fishing and exploitation
and implement relevant regulations to enable their products to be exported to Europe.

The minister underlined the need to change fishing practices to responsible
exploitation and overcome infrastructure facilities inadequacies in the
industry.

It is also necessary to reorganise production, focusing on processing and restructuring
ashore jobs, thus developing a sustainable maritime economy, he said.

At a recent working session between an EC delegation with the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, the EC affirmed its willingness to share
experience with Vietnam in building legal documents, plans and measures to
combat IUU fishing.

The EC issued a yellow card warning to Vietnam
last year, after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in the
fight against IUU fishing worldwide. While the measure was only considered
a warning, which should not technically affect the EC’s trade policy, the
Vietnamese fishing industry was concerned the yellow card would seriously harm
the reputation of Vietnamese seafood.

According to EC requirements, the Vietnamese seafood sector
had to implement nine recommendations from October 23, 2017 through until
April 23, 2018.

The nine recommendations included revisions of
the legal framework to ensure compliance with international and regional rules,
applicable to the conservation and management of fisheries resources; ensuring
the effective implementation and enforcement of the country’s revised laws; and
strengthening the implementation of international rules and management
measures.

The EC also wanted Vietnam to issue sanctions
and increase the level of sanctions against IUU fishing, which should be
written in the revised Law on Fisheries, and give concrete evidence proving
Vietnam’s efforts in the fight against IUU fishing.

A working delegation of the European Commission (EC)’s
Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries made a fact-finding trip
to Vietnam late May to inspect the implementation of recommendations related to
the fight against IUU fishing.

EC officials will return to Vietnam in January 2019 to evaluate once more
before considering the removal of the “yellow card”.-VNA